Bed Eve. By H. Rider Haggard. (Hodder and Stoughton. 6s.)—Mr.
Bider Haggard takes for the first scene of his story one of the most interesting spots in East Anglia—Dunwich—once a. cathedral city, now an insignificant coast village. The time is the era of the Black Death ; the protagonists are the representatives of two related families, which have drifted far apart, the Claverings, who have stuck to the land, and the de Cressis, who have taken to trade. Hugh de Cressi loves and is loved by Eve Clavering, and most picturesque is the romance which has been constructed out of this situation. So picturesque is it, indeed, that we could verl
well have done without the mysterious "Murgh, the Death," a personification of the plague with which Mr. Haggard, who loves 'these mysterious beings, begins and ends his tale. To our mind it somewhat weakens the effect. The battle-field of Crecy, the challenge fought out before the Doge of Venice, and the plague- pit at Avignon give us excitement enough. We are accustomed -to be moved by Mr. Haggard's pen, but it has never been more .effective.
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